Customer Reviews

The Rough Guide to the Universe, Second edition (Rough Guide Reference)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
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I was looking for a well-written, intelligent overview of current knowledge on the solar system, and this book was exactly what I was looking for. The presentation is very clear, the writing quality is excellent, and the tone is exactly right for this kind of information: light, good use of humour, and not taking itself too seriously (John Scalzi has a quirky sense of humour . . . it works very well here).

I'm not very interested in Astronomy, so the final part of the book was less useful to me, but I can see that it would have been a very good introduction to using a telescope to view the night skies.

John Scalzi's Rough Guide to The Universe, is anything but rough. I have been an amateur astronomer for over 45 years and have read every beginners guide to the stars and this is the best. It is up to date (which is no easy chore these days with all of the advancements in astronomy), thorough, complete, and there is something in it for everyone. If you want to get up to speed on the current state of our understanding of the cosmo, then this book is for you.

It is a good book to have on hand for a whole understanding how the universe works. It will be intersting to keep it around and someday have my grandchildren look at it and see what is missing.